Thermodynamic studies of a HAT cycle and its components

Abstract

The electric power grid contains more and more renewable power production such as wind and solar power. The use of renewable power sources increases the fluctuations in the power grid which increase the demand for highly efficient, fast-starting power-producing units that can cope with sudden production losses. One of the more innovative power plant cycles, that have the potential of competing with conventional combined power plants in efficiency but has a higher availability and faster start up time, is the Evaporative Gas Turbine (EvGT) or Humid Air Turbine (HAT). A thermodynamic evaluation of different HAT cycle layouts has been done in this paper. Each layout is evaluated separately which makes it possible to study different components individual contribution to the efficiency and specific power. The thermodynamic evaluation also shows that it is important to look at different cool-flow extracting positions. The effect of water temperature entering the cycle, called make-up water, and where it is introduced into the cycle has been evaluated. The make-up water temperature also affects the optimal pressure level for intercooling and it is shown that an optimal position can be decided considering design parameters of the compressor and the water circuit. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved